Leaning Toward Wisdom

Time. It doesn’t slip away. It rushes out the door like our air conditioning on a hot Texas summer day when we leave the door open. Obligations and responsibilities. When you’re a kid you think it’s a burden to study for that exam. You sweat bullets when you’re unprepared, wishing you were free from the […]

Lately I’ve had a number of interesting conversations about perspectives and filters. You know, those things that form how we look at the world and our lives. It’s all that sum-total stuff that largely makes us who we are. Yes, we can make up our own minds and decide for ourselves, but some of us […]

You’ve seen it many times before in the movies. One character has been injured, or is dying. Another character says, “I’m not leaving you.” Sometimes the felled person tells them to leave them behind. Go on. Get away. Run. Nope. They stay. Not wanting to walk away. Throughout history there have been some terrific partnerships […]

On July 5th I started a social media fast. My self-imposed deadline to break the fast was August 1st. It was 26 days. Chosen completely at random – well, that’s not entirely true. I just felt like it was time to step away for a bit, something I do annually whenever the mood hits me. […]

When I was about 18 I started reading books and articles on negotiating. It was the Cold War era. America was in an arm’s race with Soviet Russia. Viet Nam was a war more than a country. International negotiations were constantly in the news. Even though I was selling stereo gear while going to school, […]

Some weeks ago over at the private Facebook group – you should join…just visit Facebook.com/groups/LeaningTowardWisdom – I asked people to vote on this question: Which word best describes your life…right now? The choices were grateful, energized, anxious, calm, fulfilled, frustrated and depressed. Grateful was #1. Energized was #2. Anxious was #3. Nobody who took the poll was […]

June 7, 1995 was a terrible day for Orlando Magic fans. It was a far worse day for Nick Anderson, the first drafted player for an upstart NBA franchise, selected #11 in 1989. Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Houston Rockets. Ten and a half seconds left and Anderson goes to the line for […]

All you can do is all you can do. “The scientific nature of the ordinary man is to go on out and do the best you can.”   -John Prine I’m an ordinary man. Very ordinary. Don’t mock me. You’re ordinary, too. That’s not a bad thing. Not doing our best is a bad thing, […]

The story is gaining popularity even though it’s who knows how old. I heard it when I was a young man. Now I’m old. Until recently I never checked it out to see if it was even true. Turns out, it is. Maybe I heard it because I was born in Oklahoma, a state with […]

“In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.”  ― Eleanor Roosevelt Earning your spot is your responsibility. “If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn’t […]